


Nightmares

by licoricebrightwater



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adoption, Chara Is A Sweetheart, Daddy Sans, Dreams and Nightmares, Feel-good, Female Frisk, Frisk is a Sweetheart, Hurt/Comfort, Mama Bear Papyrus, Pacifist Frisk, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Soft Chara, Undertale Monsters on the Surface
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 17:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14675844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/licoricebrightwater/pseuds/licoricebrightwater
Summary: Sans has a nightmare, and needs to check on someone to make sure they're alright; it's just a dream, right? Just a dream...it's all going to be okay





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Akumokagetsu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akumokagetsu/gifts).



The world was spinning, his bones were slick with sweat, his eye **_ached_ ** like his magic had swollen so much that it was threatening to blow his entire left eye socket to pieces. The short skeleton’s hands were trembling, one clutching his eye socket and the other reaching shakingly for the bottle of water he kept on his nightstand.

 

His hands were shaking bad enough that removing the lid became a chore, he was just about ready to gaster blaster the cap into the wall when he finally managed to get a firm grip and twist it off, dropping the plastic lid on the ground and taking a long swig from the bottle.

 

Sans took a shuddering breath, hands dropping to his lap, one still holding the mostly empty bottle, his bones rattling softly. Moonlight spilled into the room through the window, illuminating the blue carpet and part of his desk, still messy with papers and a powered-down laptop. The trash tornado spun lazily across the floor, scooping up a few discarded socks before settling into the corner.

 

Sans’ right hand wiped his face, coming away wet with sweat and...tears? He couldn’t be sure which one had been stinging his eye sockets, but it didn’t really matter at this point. He took another breath and stood, shoving his feet into a pair of pink slippers and crossing the room. The short skeleton paused at the door to finish the water with a swig and then dropped the empty bottle onto the floor, where the trash tornado scooted over eagerly to claim it.

 

Sans was too...shaken to be amused, and in spite of guzzling an entire bottle of water, his throat felt dry and his skull ached with a pounding headache. The short skeleton opened the door and stepped into the darkened hall, eye lights searching from the light switch and eventually finding it. His sockets went dark in protest from the sudden blinding light, and the skeleton flinched back slightly, head turning away, forcing Sans to give his eyes a chance to adjust.

 

The short skeleton half stumbled down the hall, head still fogged by memories of the nightmare that had awoken him, and slowed by exhaustion but that was all unimportant; he had to check, he had to be certain.

 

Even as he made his way to the door, the skeleton’s mind was already scolding him for being ridiculous; nothing had happened in the how-many-hours since they had all gone to bed. He was being paranoid; irrational at best. But anxiety won out, it always did, and the short skeleton turned the doorknob attached to a blue-painted door adorned with a duck-shaped nameplate.

 

Light from the hall cast into the room, over the cream-coloured carpet, over a bed with a white metal frame, and blue blankets, and crayon pictures on the wall. But Sans’ eyelights lingered on the small bundle curled up on the bed, clutching a dog plush animal, though the grinning head of the animal could still be seen poking out from beneath the covers. Sans didn’t notice his breathing slow and his shoulders relax, a grin pulling at his cheeks.

 

“Sans?” the short skeleton turned to look down the hall, which was now dominated by the tall form of his very bleary skeletal brother. Papyrus was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, skeletal brows furrowed from the light.

 

“What on earth are you doing up at...at...too-early-o’clock, Sans?” the younger monster protested in exasperation, “we have work in the...Sans...are you alright?” Sans managed a pained grin, he knew he looked a wreck.

 

“I had a dream Paps...it was...it was awful.” The tall skeleton crossed the hall in three long strides to join his brother, “The kid, they were...they were...it…” Sans cleared his throat.

 

“It was Snowdin, the kid they...they weren’t themselves. They had a knife an’ they were...they...I…” Sans knew he was shaking again; he could hear his bones rattling but he just couldn’t stop himself. “I...I hurt them Paps, I hurt them so badly. I did...I butchered them, there was blood and dust and I-I-”

 

“Brother...Sans,” Papyrus knelt, placing his hands on his older brother’s shoulders, “It’s okay Sans...it was just a bad dream. A terrible nightmare, that’s all. Look…” Papyrus gestured with one hand to the room, “She’s alright Sans...she’s alright.”

 

“Yeah…” Sans took a breath and nodded, “Yeah I...you’re right. It just felt...it felt so real. So horrible.” the shorter skeleton sighed and rubbed his skull, the two monsters watching the small lump on the bed shift a little.

 

“...You go on Paps, I’m...I’m gonna stay here a bit.” the elder brother grinned up at the younger, “It’s alright, go on...I just...I need some time, y’know?”

 

Papyrus almost frowned as he studied his big brother, but his expression relaxed back into a tender smile, and the taller monster gave a nod.

 

“Alright Sans, take all the time you need.” and the elder skeleton continued down the hall. Sans chuckled and turned back to the room, stepping in and shutting the door behind himself, before ambling up to sit next to the bed.

 

He peeled the blue covers back to reveal the pale face and deep chocolate hair of the kindest person he knew. Someone who could give even Papyrus a run for his money in just how good they were. This was a person who had broken the barrier, in spite of all the odds, someone who had gotten them all out. Someone who had no stake in the plight of the monsters, no reason to do what they did, a kid...barely older than a baby, and they had saved thousands.

 

Small wonder some of the monsters had taken to calling them an angel, and not in the proverbial kind but in the more literal sense. An actual angel, the kind that brings love, peace, and hope. Given all they had already accomplished in their short life, Sans couldn’t really fault them.

 

A small hand.  
  
A tiny hand, warm and soft.

 

A tiny hand that had shattered centuries of bondage and given the sun back to thousands of monsters now cupped Sans’ face.

 

So small...so much burden in such tiny, tiny hands.

 

“Daddy?” That one word, that one little word did so much to Sans. He had thought hearing Papyrus call him ‘brother’ was the best sound in the world...but this child. This...this HUMAN...when she had asked if she could call him her dad, Sans had felt himself swell with so much emotion, so much joy. It had taken him five minutes just to say ‘yes’ he had been blubbering so badly. That feeling hadn’t dissipated with time either...it only grew stronger, more intense...it filled Sans with so much, but chief above all the need to see this little girl happy. The will to see her kept safe and above all the determination to be the father she never had.

 

“Daddy...did you have a bad dream? You’re crying…” blue eyes, the most beautiful and innocent blue eyes Sans had ever seen searched the short skeleton’s eyelights. There was no malevolence in them, just innocence...just mercy.

 

“Heh, I...I had a dream kiddo, it wasn’t a nice one” Sans admitted, as Frisk thumbed the tears from his cheeks, “I dreamt...I dreamt I lost you. I was so scared kiddo, I...I had ta make sure you were still here.”

 

Frisk raised a second tiny hand to hold his bony face in, letting the skeleton drink in the warmth of her palms, her fingertips. It was so...reassuring, just to feel her body against his, to feel her small fingers pressed against his skull.

 

Hands that had carried so much weight...more weight than was fair for a child. A child that had been called ‘race traitor’ a child that was the subject of round criticism and debate on the evening news. A child that saved the monsters.

 

A child that called him ‘Daddy’.

 

“Do you want to stay here with me? I’ll protect you” she offered, a kid not even ten years old, offering to protect a full-grown monster. Yet Sans couldn’t find it within himself to laugh...because he believed it. For all of his talk of protecting her, of shielding her...Sans knew who had more strength between the two of them. The skeleton was certain that if he had even one percent of this little girl’s conviction, that he could fight the whole world for her.

“Yeah...sure, that’d be nice kiddo” the skeleton monster stepped around to the other side of the bed, kicking his shoes off as Frisk shifted, pulling the covers away so that Sans could slip in behind her. The two adjusted themselves as they settled into the small bed, Frisk’s body pressed up against Sans’ ribcage.

 

“You okay kiddo?” Frisk nodded sleepily in response, pushing her head up to rest on Sans’ arm. The skeleton still had no clue how, but Frisk found his bones very comfortable to sleep on, he had assumed it they would be too hard...but Frisk had no problems.

 

“Goodnight Daddy.”

Again that word...that word that had the power to give Sans the strength to move mountains, if she had called him that in the underground, Sans wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have been able to shatter the barrier with his own hands.

 

Then maybe...maybe he would be able to take some of this weight, some of this dreadful burden away, and carry it himself so that those tiny hands wouldn’t have to. Tiny hands...that were so very strong.

 

“Goodnight sweetpea,” Sans whispered, “I love you” the monster’s breath caught in his throat when Frisk didn’t immediately respond but instead heaved a large, heavy yawn.

 

“I love you too...daddy”

 

Sleep came far...far easier after that.

 

*****

 

Papyrus hesitated at his door, looking down the hall...strange, was that red door always there? With a frown, the tall skeleton walked the extra steps down the hall and paused, there was a nameplate on the door, one in the shape of a flower...

 

Papyrus turned the knob and opened the door, casting light onto the cream carpet and green walls decorated with pictures of buttercups. In the middle of the room was a bed, one with yellow sheets and a white metal frame. The person in the bed shifted and sat up, looking right at Papyrus with deep scarlet eyes.

 

A painful headache passed through Papyrus skull, but just as quickly as it came, it passed, leaving the tall skeleton slightly dizzy. That’s right...they had found them after leaving Mount Ebott. Papyrus had been in such an excited state that he had run down to see the city and almost bowled them over in the process. They had been so alone, so confused and so scared...but things were looking better now.

 

Sure not all the human authorities were happy with the situation, there was something about a courtroom and a lawsuit coming back, they wanted to take the humans away because ‘monsters didn’t know how to raise humans’, but Papyrus was pretty confident.

 

He had to be confident.

 

“Daddy...are you alright?” Papyrus grinned at their quivering voice and marched over, kneeling and patting their head.

 

“Yes I’m fine honey, your Uncle Sans had a bad dream that your sister was hurt very bad and I got worried about you too. So I came to check to make sure you were alright.” Even now, Sans and Papyrus both were not entirely certain if ‘sister’ was the right word for it. Technically they were cousins since Sans and Papyrus were brothers, but the two girls looked almost exactly the same, to the point where Papyrus had been momentarily confused by little Chara.  
  
The little one yawned, clutching an odd flower plushie and nodded.

 

“I’m fine…” red eyes drooped, heavy with drowsiness, and Papyrus chuckled.

 

“Alright, you go back to sleep, okay honey?” and he planted a bony kiss on her forehead. The child nodded and shifted back under the covers, letting Papyrus straighten them.

 

“Goodnight Daddy” the mumbled, eyes closing fully.

 

“Goodnight Chara” Papyrus gave one more kiss before standing and heading back to his room. He completely missed the black figure that grinned at him from the corner of the room, hold hands clasped in front of his body. Then the figure simply as not there anymore...as if they had simply glitched out of existence.

 

_Sometimes a happy ending needed to be forced, and to do that, one needed to cheat. W.D Gaster was more than aware of that, and if there was one thing Gaster was alright with, it was cheating for a happy ending._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo yeah, this idea sprang forth from my head as a sort of divergence of a trope. It's common for Sans to have a nightmare and then have to run to see that Papyrus is okay, I decided to flip that on its ear a bit. This was originally supposed to be a little one-shot but an idea for a follow up leapt into my brainbox so I decided to run with it. Sorry it's so short, jeeze this is what happens when Aku's not around to kick my arse into doing longer stories :/


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